Beef and Potato Casserole

By Mariealicerayner @MarieRynr

As you know we had the Missionary Elders here for their supper the other night.  That's when I made that gorgeous Profiterole Cake.  Today I am going to show you what they had for their main course.   A delicious Beef and Potato Casserole!  They both had seconds!

I always figure they get enough roast dinners and so when they come to us I always try to cook them a meal similar to one they might get at home from their mums.  Family type of food.  Home cooking at it's best.

This went down a real treat.  It's simply potatoes, browned ground beef and cheese layered together with a simple sauce made  using tinned condensed soup, sour cream and regular cream.   I know it's a bit of a cheat using tinned soup, but I'm not a tinned soup snob.  It has it's uses.

There are not too many tinned soups (except maybe tomato) that I would eat as soup, but they do make great sauces for Casseroles in a pinch!!   And this meat and potato casserole is a wonderful way to use it.   I simply serve it with some vegetables on the side, a salad and some crusty bread to mop up all that cheesy sauce.   Scrumptiously tasty!
 
*Beef and Potato Casserole*
Serves 4 to 6Printable Recipe  
A delicious casserole made by layering potatoes, tinned soup and cheese in a dish along with cooked ground beef.  Simple ingredients that taste delicious when put together. 
1 pound extra lean ground beef1 medium onion, peeled and chopped1 small green pepper, trimmed and chopped2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced1/2 tsp seasoning salt1/4 tsp groung black pepper4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced (parboil in lightly salted boiling water for five minutes, then drain)120g of grated cheddar cheese (1 cup)For the sauce:1 tin of condensed Cream of Chicken soup, undiluted1 small onion, peeled and grated125ml of single cream (1/2 cup)1 heaped dessert spoon of sour cream (about 1/4 cup)3 TBS grated Parmesan cheese1/2 tsp garlic powder1/4 tsp seasoning salt1/4 tsp black pepper
 
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.   Butter a large oblong glass casserole dish.   Set aside.

Whisk together the soup, onion, cream, sour cream, Parmesan Cheese, garlic powder, seasoning salt and black pepper.   Set aside.

Spray a large skillet with non stick cooking spray.  Crumble in the ground beef.  Scramble fry until it is no longer pink.  Add the onion, green papper, garlic, seasoning salt and black pepper and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until the beef begins to brown and the vegetables have softened.Begin to layer the ingredients into the prepared baking dish as follows.  One third of the potatoes, half of the meat, 1/3 of the soup, 1/3 of the cheese, one third potatoes, remaining half of meat, 1/3 of the soup, 1/3 of the cheese, remaining potatoes, then remaining soup and cheese.  Cover with a sheet of foil which has been buttered on one side, buttered side down.   Place on a baking sheet and bake for one hour in the preheated oven.  Uncover and bake for about 30 minutes longer until the potatoes are fork tender and everything is nicely bubbling and golden brown.

Note: If you want you can add an additional handful of cheddar cheese to the top for the last half hour of baking.  I often do and nobody complains at all!  Delicious!